Bellwether Magazine

Volume 1 Number 59 Spring 2004 Article 6

Spring 2004

Penn Researchers Describe Newly Found Dinosaur

Gregory Lester University of Pennsylvania

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Recommended Citation Lester, Gregory (2004) "Penn Researchers Describe Newly Found Dinosaur," Bellwether Magazine: Vol. 1 : No. 59 , Article 6. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/bellwether/vol1/iss59/6

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Penn Researchers Describe Newly Found Dinosaur by Gregory Lester at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine and pro- the Morrison Formation was near the shoreline Through the cycads and gingkoes of the fessor in the Department of Earth and of a long but shallow arm of ocean water called floodplains, not far from the Sundance Sea, Environmental Sciences. While its Diplodocus rel- the Sundance Sea. The coastal ecosystem has not strode the 50-foot-long Suuwassea, a plant-eating atives have a single hole on the top of the skull been the typical environment for Morrison dinosaur with a whip-like tail and an anomalous related to the nasal cavity, paleontologists Formation dinosaurs, which have mostly been second hole in its skull destined to puzzle paleon- have yet to come up with a plausible found in a more arid region farther south. tologists 150 million years later. According to use for this The discovery of this new species could researchers at Penn, Suuwassea emilieae (pro- second hole. suggest that the fauna of this area dif- nounced SOO-oo-WAH-see-uh eh-MEE-LEE- The name Suuwassea fered from the rest aye) is a smaller relative of Diplodocus and comes from the Native American of the Morrison Apatosaurus and is the first named sauropod Crow word meaning “ancient Formation or that dinosaur from the Jurassic of southern Montana. thunder” is and also a nod to thunder lizard, the this region was something of a lush Jurassic Their findings appeared in the journal Acta Pale- original nickname of the dinosaur now known as “vacation spot.” ontologica Polonica. Apatosaurus. Emilieae is a reference to the late Nowadays, the region is much more arid, and Suuwassea is the first unequivocal new sauro- Emilie deHellebranth, whose financial support much of Suuwassea’s partial skeleton was found pod from the Morrison Formation, a 150-mil- funded the dinosaur’s excavation. exposed on the surface, from years of wind and lion-year-old geological formation extending The dinosaur’s skeleton was initially found by rain erosion. The partial skeleton, which was from New Mexico to Montana, in more than a William Donawick, an emeritus professor of sur- deposited randomly by river flooding before fos- century. It has a number of distinguishing fea- gery at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, silization, held enough distinguishing characteris- tures, but the most striking is a second hole in its while horseback riding with his son-in-law Will tics that Dodson and his colleagues could easily skull, a feature we have never seen before in a Tillett near the family ranch in Wyoming, close to classify it as a new species. North American dinosaur, according to Peter the southern border of Montana. Suuwassea’s tail vertebrae are shorter and flat- Dodson, senior author and professor of anatomy At the time Suuwassea was alive, this part of ter at the ends than those of its relatives, and the proportions of some of the other vertebrae and leg bones are also different, says Jerry Harris, Widener Hospital Closed for a Number of Weeks; coauthor and graduate student researcher in Reproduction Service Reopens Penn’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science. The extra hole in the skull is still a mys- On May 10, 2004, the George D. Widener tion, allowing us to safely open our doors to tery; it has only been seen before in two Hospital for Large Animals at New Bolton accept patients again. As an added precaution, dinosaurs from Africa and one from South Center, Penn’s large animal facility, was closed clients will observe that we have implemented America. It is interesting that the two African to new patients for six to eight weeks, for additional bio-security measures to continue dinosaurs are exactly the same age as Suuwassea, decontamination of barn and clinic buildings. to ensure the health of our patients.” and all three are also related to the much larger Earlier this year, multidrug-resistant Salmonella The Section of Reproduction provides Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. infections occurred in the patient population. comprehensive reproductive care for horses, Since the skulls of sauropod dinosaurs are The administration opted for hospital closure cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and llamas. Services largely made of thin, fragile bones, the researchers to not expose patients to the organism and to include: breeding soundness evaluations, were fortunate to recover any of the skull at all. allow for faster, more efficient decontamination transported semen program, embryo transfer For sauropods, only the bigger, heavier, and of the buildings. The hospital will re-open after program, an equine embryo recipient mare denser bones, like the limbs, are usually pre- appropriate bio-security measures have been herd, reproductive behavior consultations served, Harris notes. instituted to protect patients and staff. Appointments can be made by calling Luck seems to be with the Penn researchers. On May 27 it was announced that the 610.925.6220. Clients should drive directly to Near the excavation site of the Suuwassea Section of Reproduction at New Bolton the Hofmann Center without stopping at the remains, members of the expedition chanced Center accepts patients again. The service is Widener Hospital. upon the partial skeleton of a new dinosaur pred- located in the Georgia and Phillip Hofmann The Center’s Field Service has relocated to ator, currently under study by Penn researchers. Research Center for Animal Reproduction, on a different part of the campus and continues Funding for this research was supported by Bartram Road, about two miles away from to make farm calls. The diagnostic laborato- Emilie deHellebranth; Penn’s Research the Widener Hospital. ries are open and accept samples from Foundation, School of Veterinary Medicine, and “The Hofmann Center was closed as a practitioners. Department of Animal Biology; and the Penn precaution until the facility could be screened Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine Paleobiology Fund. for contamination,”says Dr. Patricia Sertich. anticipates that its Widener Hospital for Large Suuwassea emilieae is currently in the collec- “Repeated screenings of the environment and Animals will re-open the end of July after tion of the Academy of Natural Sciences in resident animals showed that the Hofmann appropriate bio-security measures have been Philadelphia, where Dodson is a research Center was free of any Salmonella contamina- instituted to protect patients and staff. associate.

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